3419 - Populism: Left and Right

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

Sociology has traditionally shied away from investigations of populism. Whether over concern for the fluidity of the concept or the methodological problems related to comparison, variation, and confounding variables, sociology (even in subfields such as social movements, political sociological, and race and ethnicity) has struggled with the concept. However recent resurgences of populism in Latin America, the Middle East, and from the left and right in the run-up to 2016 presidential election, sociology is now called upon to address the theoretical, empirical, and methodological dilemmas related to populism without distilling these issues to matters of political ideologies or organizations. Without such intervention, sociology is at risk to be woefully wrong—or possibly worse—deemed irrelevant when it comes to understanding the social causes and consequences of populism in the new millennium.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Session

Session Organizer

• Mary Romero, Arizona State University

Presider

• Michael Rosino, University of Connecticut

Individual Presentations

• Populism, Nationalism, and the Rise of Radical Politics - Bart Bonikowski, Harvard University

• Populism and Sociology: Lessons from Latin America - Carlos De la Torre

• Populism and Popularity: Which Women Count in the “New” Mobilizations? - Zakiya T. Luna, University of California, Santa Barbara